Quick-facing tray for fruit packing



Nov. 24, l925- J. T, JANNEY QUICK FACIN'G TRAY FOR FRUIT' PACKING Filed July 5, 1923 Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES yPATENT' OFFICE.

`JOHN' TB JANNEY, 0F MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA.

' QUIck-FACING may non FRUIT PACKING.

Appnucn niet my c,

.To aZZ wlzmm'zt-my concern: I Be it known that I, JOHN TABB JANNEY, a citizeniofthe United States, residing at Martinsburg, in theV county of Berkeley and 5' State ofWest Virginia, have invented cerf tain new andusefullmprovements in Quick- Facin yTrays for Fruit Packing,` of which u the fo lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the ackingwof 10 fruit and provides equipment or quickly the lower end :of acontainer when facin it is eing packed. This lower` end, `thus first packed, becomesthe` top of the containerand the irst endto'be opened.

The general object 'of the invention is to x -faciltate'the careful and uniform pacln'ng of-fruit and to make possible inspection ofv the selected facing fruit after they are in position" 'and before they are lowered into o the container.

One feature of the invention is the prol vision of a tray/in which selected frult is positioned stem 'end down, and which tray is lowered into. the bottom end of the barrel LorA other container and seated on the end 1 wall, vafter which the barrel is completely filled and closed. The tray remainsin place until the barrel isopene'd, at which time it is necessary. to remove the bottom of the 39 tray, which is now in an inverted position,

in order to inspect the fruit.4

Another feature of the invention involves the-shape of the tray, which has a marginal side wall around a flat bottom, and which '35 has side handles projecting from said side wall2 one on either side of said trayyand serving as handles by 'whichthe operatory l .i may hold the tray while it is being lowered to position within the barrel. "f

. Another feature of the invention involves the use of corrugated paper or-:other yieldable substance, as the material of the tray.l In this way, the tray bottom servesas the usual disk of car'd board to protect bruising of the fruit. At the same' time, the shape of the tray makes it suflici'ently rigid to receive and hold several layers of vfruit without collapsing. Another featureof the invention is the use of a tray which has the o 'bottom thereof separable from the side wall.

Ones "eciic adaptation includes the use of a cor or wire for. cutting the bottom disk away from the side wall.. The result obieza serial No. 649,647.

tainedby using a separable tray bottom is that the container may be inspected without removing the entire tray and without removing the tray side walls, which removal might /result' in disturbing the fruit.

The above and other details and advantages. are described and claimed in the following specification .and claims and the structure is illustrated in the accompanying Vtray. in position encircling the fruit;

Fig., 4 is a perspective view looking downwardly on the tray, -which is represented as formed of corrugated packing card board and which has a'cord ositioned aro-und the so bottom of the tray. a jacent .the side wall fort'l severing the bottom from the side walls; an

Fig. 5 represents, in section, a fragmentary view of a modified form showing the cord positioned around the tray bottom which issecured tothe side wall by a common connectingcorner piece which is adapted to be severed bythe cord.

Like parts areindicated in the diierent 'figures by. .like reference characters.

l Referring in 'detail to the drawing, l vindicatesthe bottom of the tray which 1s preferably formed of light weight material such as cardboard 'or paper. This bottom` por, tion yshouldliave the general shape of the bottom o f the container in which it is to be used. In the form illustrated, the container is a barreland accordingly, the bottom disk` is represented `as circular. Side walls 2 pro- .1

ject from the marginal edges of the disk l and may be formed of the same material as the bottom; `In Figs. 3 and f1, thematerial is represented as formed of corrugated paper having an inner lining of paper and thus providing the'cellular structure commonly usedfin the protecting end disks for apple barrels. The' side walls 2,thus eX- tending as an annular flange from the bot- .tom 1,*have projecting handle portions 3 which'are illustrated as extensions of the material of the side walls and which constitute flaps or handleswhich may be held one in Aeither hand by the person packing the barrel. The invention contemplates that the tray shall be packed with one or vmore layers l of fruit specially selected to serve as the facing layers for the top of the barrel. `The I fruit is placed, stem downwardly, in the tray, and when thus properly arranged, the' tray is lowered to the bottom of the barrel so as to rest on the lower end closure, as will be described. The bulk of the barrel contents may then be filled in. It is the usual practice to build up the fruit several inches above the upperend of the barrel,

"applying the upper end closure boards and then to compress the fruit thus piled up 'until the contents are fairly tight and the closure is brought into proper position for fastening with hoops or other means. Means for severing the side wall of the tray from the bottom -thereof is provided by a cord or wire 4 which is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and/1 as extending around the inside of the tray in the angle formed between the.

- bottom and side walls. 'The string projects throughthe tray and one endis terminated the barrel an c ord 4b and draws the cord around the ina knot 4a and the other end lb extends outwardly for several inches wherefit may be grasped b the person who is -opening used to cut the bottom from the lside walls. A pulling movement'on the string around the packed barrel will result in cutting the material of the tray and severing the bottom portion from the side walls. In Fig. 1, the tray is shown lowered into the barrel 5 and vresting on the bottom boards '6,l which latter becomes the top end and the first tov be opened after the barrel is packed. It will be observed that the material of the tray bottom by being formed of corrugated-paper or other yieldable material thus serves as the usual protecting sheet of card board. When the barrel is opened, the to-p boards 6 are removed and it becomes necessary to remove the tray bottom 1 in order to inspect the fruit. The appearance of the tray and barrel before inspection and after the removal of the top boards is as illustrated in Fig. 2. The person opening the barrel grasps the free end of the upper edge of the-barrel following the general direction of the dotted linewhich represents the string 4. The tray endel is thus, removed as a disk leaving the top layer of fruit, as illustrated in Fig. 3 with the side walls 2 still in position aro-und the inner upper edge of the side walls of the barrel. The tray might be lifted out bodily, 'but to 'do this, might possibly upset. the fruit and disarrange it. Ifthe barrel is merely l.

open for inspection, it can again be temporarily closed by covering the fruitD by the disk 1 and replacing the boards 6.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, an arrangement is illustrated by which the severing of the string may cut a fastening strip 7 intsea'dof being used to cut throug the material of the tray. In this form, the

tray bottom 1 and the tray side walls 2 are formed of separate pieces and are secured together by a common binding strip of tough paper or cloth, indicated at 7. The

cord 4 is shown as encircling the bottom disk 1 from which position it may be drawn .by pulling movement on the free end 4b.

-The invention provides particularly for With the tray of this invention, it becomes possible for the foreman in charge of large Ywacking operations to personally inspect the arrangement and selection of the l fruit which thus is to become the top several layers of the fruit barrel. I-Ieretofore, itrhas been the common practice for the person packing Ithe barrel to lean o-ver into the barrel and attempt to arrange the fruit while the barrel is in the position shown in- Fig. 1. The packer is thusnecessarily in his own light, and the foreman haslittle opportunity to know definitely..how the fruit is packed at the bottom unless, after the barrel vis nally closed, he should reopen the barrel to inspect the top end which is thus rst packed.A It isvbelieved that this present invention simplifies packing operations.

I claim 1. A facing tray for packaging fruit comprising'a bottom portion adapted to constitute the top cover end disk and a non-collapsible annular side wall extending fromthe periphery of said bottom portion and adapted to4 confine the lfacing fruit against lateral displacement and4 prevent crushing of the-fruit against a container side wall,

said bottom 'portion being separable fromv said side wall, the combined bottom and side wall providing a tray sufficiently rigid to support without collapsing the weight of the facin layers of fruit While the tray is packed, owered into a container and constantly thereafter until theV container is opened.l f 4 2. A facing tray for packaging fruit com'- prising a bottom portion. adapted to consticollapsing the weight of the facing layers tute the to cover end disk, an annular side 0f fruit While the tray is packed, lowered wall exten 'ng from the periphery of said into a container and constantl7` thereafter 10 bottom portion, andmeans for severing said 11111111 the'CODlDel 1S Opened.

5. bottom portion from said si'de wall, the eom- Y Ill teStlmODy WhereOf I aiX my Slgnature.

bined bottonrL and side wall providing a tray sufficiently rigid, to support without JOHN TABB JANNEY. 

